Identifying your favourite feline

Cats need identification, being the wanderers they often are. Microchips might just give the added protection owners need, as cats are so difficult to keep a collar on.

The people at shelters work very hard, sometimes even calling to another country just to try to trace an owner. But if owners don’t responsibly identify their pets, how can animal shelters return them. It’s up to each pet owner to be responsible for his or her animal. Animal shelters need each and every pet owner’s support by making certain their pet has current identification on them.

Cats are commonly found without any identification at all. Many neighbors might return cats to their owners if they just knew which neighborhood house was it’s home. If a cat is brought to a shelter and it has a microchip, shelters can use it to trace the owner’s last listed address. If pet owners don’t responsibly make known any change of address then lost pets may not get returned. One purpose of animal shelters is to be able to care for and return pets to their loved ones. Without ownership identification, they can only do so much.

A cat owner looked for their missing pet at numerous animal shelters continually over a quite extended period of time. Because they had microchipped their pet, they were hopeful that their missing cat might be found by someone and be turned into a local shelter. Unfortunately for the owners, time passed and their cat was not returned to any of the shelters.

The family eventually moved to North Salt Lake, Utah. They did inform the shelters and the vet of their new address. Weeks turned into months, the family must have lost all hope. Believe it or not, an animal shelter received the cat 1 ½ years after it was first missing. Due to their cat’s microchip, they reached the owners at their current address and the family was reunited!

It is sad when pets are lost, because as time passes the hope of them returning fades. Sometimes, people think their pet is just wandering around and wait too long before they consider it missing. Animal shelters can only keep lost pets a few days before euthanasia gets administered. If you’ve lost a pet, be sure to check the animal shelters right away and continue to do so periodically.

Can you imagine how happy and surprised you’d be — reuniting with a long lost pet from 1 ½ years ago, you thought you’d never see again!!! This story is true – so it can happen.